Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

Got your shot? You could win $1 million in Ohio.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has announced a $1 million lottery for those who are vaccinated in the state as an incentive to get more people vaccinated.

“Ohio Vax-a-Million,” drawings will be held for five consecutive Wednesdays, starting May 26, to pick the winners.

There are $1 million prizes for five adults, plus another five full-ride public college scholarships to teens who get vaccinated against COVID-19

More:Ohio to give $1M away to 5 vaccinated adults, 5 full-ride college scholarships

How are winners selected?
The winners will be pulled from the Ohio secretary of state’s voter registration database.

There will also be a way for those not in the database to sign up.

When will the drawings happen?
A total of five weekly drawings for each prize will take place, with the first winners being announced on May 26.

How do I qualify for the $1 million?
To be eligible, you must be 18 or older, an Ohio resident and vaccinated before the drawing.

Winners must have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by the date of the drawing.

Where does the money come from?
The lottery and scholarships are funded through existing federal coronavirus relief funds.

Officials said the drawings will be administered by the Ohio Department of Health, with assistance from the Ohio Lottery Commission.

More:Gov. DeWine ‘thinking outside of the box.’ Ohioans react to Ohio Vax-a-Million lottery

What about the scholarships?
DeWine said 12- to 17-year-olds can sign up for the scholarship drawing via an electronic portal that will open May 18.

Drawings will be held for five straight Wednesdays to select one student to receive the scholarship, which will cover tuition, room-and-board and books.

The scholarship applies for Ohio’s state colleges and universities.

What are the odds of winning?
Roughly 4.88 million Ohioans have received at least one shot of an FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccination.

Of those, around 173,000 are under the age of 19. Statistics aren’t kept specifically for the 12 to 17 age group and vaccine access for those aged 12-15 was just granted in Ohio.

More:Ages 12-15: Children’s Hospital official says kids are getting hospitalized, encourages vaccination

Here are your rough odds of winning the prizes. Those numbers are subject to change as more people get the vaccine.

For the million: 1 in 4.88 million.

For the scholarships: 1 in 173,000.

For context, your odds of winning $1 million Powerball are 1 in 11,688,053.52.

What about taxes?
Further details about the lottery, including whether taxes would be owed on winnings, were not available Wednesday night.

Unanswered questions
We don’t know how officials will verify that a person has been vaccinated.

We do not know how winners will be notified or if they will be identified. If you win the Ohio lottery, you can collect the money without having your name released.

By admin